Posts tagged deux north.
SMASHED
I guess the biggest surprise when Deux North visited the Demolition Derby wasn’t the bacon sandwiches, loud music or deteriorating carnival rides. No, our biggest surprised was how much we had in common with the drivers, mechanics and spectators. They were all lovers of a almost forgotten craft.
People call us crazy all the time. Waking up at 4:50AM on a Tuesday for 2 hours of intervals, trading a burger for quionia and generally putting our bodies directly in harms way. We laugh and say they don’t get cycling. They don’t know moments of greatness where your body leaks into your frame and you can’t feel anything. They can’t know the joy that comes from not vomiting on a climb one day and vomitting during one the next day.
After spending a few hours watching cars run into each other, interviewing drivers and taking pictures, nothing really changed. I don’t understand the Demolition Derby, I don’t, but what I do get is loving something that’s hard to love. I get that.
Back in August Deux North took a group of riders to the Adirondacks to learn a bit about passion, pain and themselves. Directed by Aaron Vaquez whose talent and kindness is a blessing and inspiration.
If you are new around here, Deux North is brand I run with my little brother Dylan that’s telling a different kind of story. It is a story of unabashed childish freedom and thrill. This is about the past, happening now. Friendship, adventure, and experience are your characters in a story about city life told amongst nature, and the last one there is a rotten egg.
You can watch our other videos here, and buy socks or a t-shirt here.
Dylan and I pulled on our Daddy Long Socks and did some Sandy hunting yesterday.
HUNT2: THE FIRST TIME WE WERE COLD
Hunt 2 was the first time we were cold in a long time. The temperature dropped nearly 20 degrees on our 8 mile journey up to the summit of Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks. The air at the top of that mountain left us shivering the sweat off of ourselves, and scattered around a picnic table with peanut butter & Nutella sandwiches in hand, the Deux North Hunters took a moment to reflect on the last 24 hours of hunt 2: a hallway sized van, a demolition derby, bacon burgers, maple shakes, passion, pouring rain, a remote campsite, a smokey fire, and a round of stories. The day combined 50 miles and 7,000 feet of climbing over the sometimes nearly impassable dirt and gravel roads of the Adirondack Mountains. From atop the summit we could see some 40 miles out, but we didn’t stay long. Stuffing our jerseys with local maps, and tourism pamphlets, we bombed down the washboard memorial highway, smelling burning carbon the whole way down. At the bottom, there is still 35 miles to go, but everyone knew - we had found what we came to hunt.
Directed by Aaron Vaquez
Life isn’t all that different from cycling really. When the road tips up you have two choices: sit back and let it hurt you or attack it, and when you think about it, that’s not really much of a choice at all.
Some nights he could still smell the campfire in his hair, and for a moment it was enough, it was enough…
A young volunteer firefighter at the Essex County Fair
Angelo Caliap smiles when he grimaces, laughs near constantly and is climbing mountains faster and faster.
The Adirondacks are almost offensively beautiful (more)
Hunt1 a Deux North Experience
Two months ago Dylan and I smoked a cigar and talked about creating a brand that celebrated that wind in your hair, blood in your veins feeling you get when you go fast enough to make your eyes water. We wanted to have fun and in the process bring together a group of young, stylish riders together to do something bigger than themselves.
So sitting here watching this video on my screen makes me damn proud. Proud of my little brother for driving this project on a daily basis, proud of Angelo, Jayson and Bam Bam for finishing the ride with style and class, proud of Aaron and Pace for making this beautiful film. I am grateful for the support we have gotten from brands like Gage & Desoto, NYC Velo and La Colombe and for the help of the two best looking follow car drivers we could ask for Megan Collins and Chelsea Rogers. I am humbled by the whole process and it all feels so, so right.
So again, I present you with Deux North’s first film.
Happy Hunting
Dylan and I released Deux North socks today, you can buy them here. The whole idea behind Deux North is to create amazing experiences on and off the bike and have talented people document those experiences. Part of making that possible is paying for some of the costs by selling product. So, if you are excited about seeing pretty photos and videos of skinny dudes with shaved legs riding around the Northeast, please feel free to pick up a pair of the Daddy Long Socks.
The style and charisma of the daddy long leg spider, pholcus phalangioides, meets the casual, sophisticated spirit of the turtle neck to create the best in inner footwear. This good foot look is made on the DeFeet Aireator with a tall enough 5” cuff.
$14.99 | BUY NOW
Hunt 1 trailer from your friends at Deux North, follow the adventure @deuxnorth or www.deuxnorth.com
HIGHLIGHTED LIFE
THE PERSONAL TUMBLELOG OF JAMES NORD:
the author of this blog is:
Fohr Card Co-Founder
accidental photographer
rapha racer
sartorial stickler
hustle disciple
ask me anything
